#PREPFORHER

RESEARCHING ATTITUDES

#PREPFORHER

RESEARCHING ATTITUDES

The
Situation

Improving Health
and Emotional
Wellbeing

In an effort to raise awareness among African American women about a new HIV prevention drug called PrEP, Octane was contracted by DC Health to determine the best way to reach this audience. Previously, women had been seemingly ignored in the PrEP awareness campaigns. This effort to reach women in the African American community would create real change and awareness for the target audience.

The
Science

In 2015, the CDC determined that about 500,000 African-Americans in
the US could potentially benefit from PrEP, but only 7,000 prescriptionswere filled.

The
Process

Octane began by holding a series of focus groups with African
American women to learn the best strategies for communicating
with them. Based on those results, the “Dominate Your Sex Life”
campaign launched in October 2016, with great interest from
the local community, local and national media, communitybased
organizations, and government agencies.

Key Findings

Lack of awareness about PrEP

Concerns about side effects

Distrust of the medical system

Goals

Create a positive educational campaign

Make information accessible

Inform and educate doctors

The Creative

The creative team placed the “Dominate Your Sex Life” campaign in various locations throughout the city. Images of strong and empowered African American women were seen on buses & in train terminals, in social gathering locations, and online. Octane leveraged images of aspirational pop culture icons to impart vital knowledge about PrEP. The health department has run numerous media flights of the “Dominate Your Sex Life” campaign and created opportunity to connect with the target audience at relevant events.

Even with digital becoming the primary focus for many advertisers, Octane realized
out-of-home bus kings and terminal posters would have a significant impact if the imagery and messaging were relevant and strong. Octane strategically produced a campaign that would not preach to the audience but instead give them something to be curious about.

Engage with and learn more about the “Dominate Your Sex Life” campaign when you visit Sexualbeing.org. Sexualbeing.org houses resources, engaging content and important facts about sexual health for DC residents.

The End Result

Engage with and learn more about the “Dominate Your Sex Life” campaign when you visit Sexualbeing.org. Sexualbeing.org houses resources, engaging content and important facts about sexual health for DC residents.

The
Results

In order to increase public awareness about PrEP, change
behaviors, and increase usage of the preventative drug, it was
critical to look at all aspects of brand development and strategic
media planning. By executing this due diligence, Octane was
confident that it could raise the bar and motivate the target
audience to learn about PrEP and take the next steps toward
getting a prescription.

In addition to imagery seen online, on buses, and in train terminals,the campaign was seen at many events including:

For Sisters Only

NOVEMBER 2016
Handed out thousands of palm
cards and #PrEPForHer branded
picture frames

World AIDS Day

DECEMBER 2016
Supported the Mayor’s 90/90/90/50
plan with #PrEPForHer step and
repeats, Twitter campaign, and
other social media support

HIV PrEP Summit

DECEMBER 2016
Several mentions from other
cities and organizations about
#PrEPForHer

The result was a sex-positive and eye-catching campaign for out-of-home
and online media. The city has seen an increase in women coming to local
clinics and community-based organizations to find out more about PrEP as
well as an increase in usage of the HIV prevention pill.